


Connections

by Lionfire42



Series: Jedi on Kamino [6]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy, Star Wars: Clone Wars (2003) - All Media Types
Genre: Accidental Force Bond (Star Wars), Cal Kestis Needs a Hug, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Jaro Tapal is a Good Parent, Kaminoans Being Assholes (Star Wars), Master & Padawan Relationship(s), Psychometry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-12
Updated: 2021-03-12
Packaged: 2021-03-19 04:46:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 685
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29994090
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lionfire42/pseuds/Lionfire42
Summary: Cal meets his Generals, but only really cares for one.OrThe introduction of Jaro Tapal
Relationships: Cal Kestis & Jaro Tapal
Series: Jedi on Kamino [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2190609
Comments: 7
Kudos: 23





	Connections

Cal, or Special Commander-006, knows that even by his group's standards, he is seen as a bit of an oddball.

It isn't that he's insubordinate or difficult as a person, per say. It was more that, to the Kaminoans, he is more of a money sink, and so, more of a nuisance.

He doesn't want to be. But his talents—the psychometry, the holocron called it—had come in early, and even when he got his gloves, it didn't always block him from the images and memories. Picking up a spoon one day could do nothing, or make him remember the disgust of two hundred brothers expressing distaste at their cheap rations.

Sometimes he can move past it, or wrench himself out. Other times, he is trapped, forced to experience the full range of an object's strongest impressions until he begins to seize.

He is starkly aware of the fact that he would have long been discarded if he wasn't protected by status. 

It wasn't too bad. Ahsoka had always been there to give him a hand or a discreet hug or cause some mischief to get the Kaminoans and the Mandalorians off his back and Caleb, despite the massive rod in his ass, was right there alongside her.

But now he is relatively alone. Granted, Stun and a few of his batch mates are serving here with him, but they are assigned to General-Master Jaro Tapal permanently, while he is to bounce between Tapal and Pong Krell as needed.

He'd met Krell briefly, and the man made him feel like a bug. His sneering, bulbous face bared sharp teeth and his four arms twitched on the handles of his sabers. He called Cal's brothers by number, not name, and while he is relieved to not have to serve with the man immediately, he fears that he won't see many of his brothers again.

In contrast to Krell's cold malice, Tapal is restrained warmth. He dwarfs Cal and the troops but he carries himself in such a way as to seem more...normal. He walks almost delicately upon his large toes, but during a training exercise he accelerates to incredible speeds as to place himself between the brothers and the oncoming fire, saberstaff turning into a blur of blue blades.

He promises to take Cal to Illum—against regulations!—once they've begun to refine his connection to the Force. He seems surprised at Cal's skill but not wary, like some of the other Jedi Cal and his group were paraded in front of.

Instead, when they meditate, Tapal's inquisitive mental tendril is calm and open. Cal's is more tentative, unused to anyone else's mind save that of his fellows and brushes across his brother's.

It's an unusual experience. Caleb's mind feels like a trembling library, a forcibly ordered structure always on the verge of twitching and shifting, like a soldier made to stand at attention for far too long. Ahsoka's mind is relatively ordered, but like messy quarters with a wall torn out and leading to the raging storm outside. Sure, there was probably an eye out there, but leaving that safe space could be dangerous.

General-Master Tapal's mind is like the greenhouses on Kamino. A safe space filled with life carefully cultivated and beautiful, but one could feel the slightest tremors of the storm outside, and he knows if Tapal wished, the floor could drop away and send him spiraling into the whirlpool below.

When they come out of their trance, he is surprised by the connection that has now been forged between them. It's not as strong as the ones he has with Ahsoka and Caleb, or even the one he has with Stun, but he knows it will grow stronger with time. The simmering ethereal whispers that always seem to caress his mind and skin and blood have quieted.

"The Council won't be pleased," Tapal says, but his tone is light and there is a slight twinkle in his eye. Cal thinks, in another time, he would have loved to be the lasat's student.

As it is, he only smiles and salutes.

**Author's Note:**

> Couldn't find the name of the Clone Commander who shoots the stun bolts shortly before Order 66, so he'll just be known as Stun.


End file.
